אקו קמפינג

After Tirana (or during Tirana) we were done with cities and were looking for a place where we could stay for several days and relax in nature. So we decided not to stay in Tirana for the night, but instead we did a little night drive of 2 hours and arrived at Eco Camping Valona shortly after sunset with sleeping Heidi. It's a very natural place surrounded by pine trees in a protected landscape area (we don't actually know what that means, there's also trash here, but oh well), just a short walk from the beach.

Although the place was packed (we haven't seen so many campers all together in a long time), the atmosphere was really nice! Dinner was prepared together on large grills, you could hear the forest, the air was fresh, many children were running around, and everything was beautifully illuminated. We could definitely stay here for a while 😊

The next few days we spent doing the following activities:

Walking in the shade with Heidi on the picnic blanket.

Heidi sleeping on her stomach in the hammock.

Heidi sleeping on her stomach on the beach chair.

Splashing around in the sea with Heidi.

Splashing around in the sea with Heidi and a swim ring.

Splashing around in the sea without Heidi.

Reading on our stomachs with and without Heidi.

Shopping for shared barbecue evenings.

Shared barbecue evenings.

And the best part: Many babies around Heidi's age with always nice parents.

Our neighbors across the way (German) provided constant entertainment, sometimes unintentionally.

The parents, both Chihuahuas, and the baby had English pop star names and they were constantly talking loudly, making phone calls, etc. You couldn't help but listen and even if you didn't, it seemed like RTL II was playing in the background 😄

Heidi had plenty of opportunities to play with other babies, stare at them and older siblings, and above all: be in her own rhythm, often naked and on the ground. And we got to watch her learn how to sit up, crawl, and assist her with the wobbly attempts to stand up.

After one of the late barbecue dinners, where we sat together with two other young families at a long table for a long time, we said goodbye with the words: "Mensch, those babies will all sleep well"! Far from it. Heidi woke up with a loud cry, was difficult to calm down, and was awake for about 2 hours. Not only was it tough for the baby and the parents, but it was also uncomfortable with open windows all around and a full campground. 🙈 but then it was less uncomfortable because the other babies around us were going through something similar. 🙈 I guess it wasn't such a good baby night. We're slowly starting to look forward to being back home, with neighbors out of earshot when Heidi cries, more opportunities for evening routine, maybe better falling asleep, and more sleeping space for everyone (Heidi also likes to sleep crosswise in our 1.20m bed 😅).

On the penultimate afternoon, we took a trip together to the nearest town and bought nonsense, feeling like we were at a fair: two scoops of ice cream here, sweets (including pudding cake) from the bakery there, of course chocolate and cookies, and we also stocked up on everything for the next few days 😁

It was wonderful.

In the end, we didn't stay for 2-3 days, but for a whole 5 nights. We had a great time and were so reset that we filled the next two days very very full, only to head to the next oasis of tranquility afterwards. But more about that another time.